Will Sony Never Learn in Gaming?

(MoneyWatch)  After falling behind both Nintendo and Microsoft in the console gaming market, after losing copious amount of money on over-designed products whose features weren't in demand, after displaying a suicidal degree of hubris, after the humiliation of having your decade-old product continue to beat the relatively new one, you'd think that Sony would have learned some lessons in the gaming market. But reviews of the PSP Go would suggest that maybe, just maybe, Sony management has failed to have benefited from its painful experiences. Instead, the company seems determined to stay the course, even if it leads into a category four hurricane.

The summary impressions and even headlines of reviews coming out on the top of Google are pretty harsh:

• " We've finally had a chance to get to know the PSP Go in detail, and here are our thoughts: this isn't aimed at a clear market, it's more expensive in every way, and it takes away the choice of gamers. When your older, cheaper hardware is better and more able than your new offering, you need to fire some designers." (Ars Technica)
• " The PSP Go is a sleek and sexy redesign, but its high price tag and some frustrating caveats mean it's not a must-have upgrade for existing PSP owners--at least for now." (CNET)
• "If we were to just take a look at the hardware at face value, we'd say Sony has done some great work here. It's a sturdy, classier game system that we're not as shy about taking out of our pocket on long, public commutes. We really do like the portable, but there's no way to separate our feelings on the hardware from all the decisions surrounding the launch. That $50 upfront premium (more if you factor out the bundled PSP-3000 games) is more or less negated when you consider the cost of a 16GB Memory Stick Duo, something that the Go already has with internal flash memory, but long-term you're still gonna be paying more for every retail game bought digitally instead of on disc." (Engadget)
• " The PSPgo should have been the ZuneHD with games, a versatile media platformed with cutting edge hardware and eye-meltingly beautiful software. But instead, it's a slightly smaller PSP with a screen, storage capacity and software that's not all that competitive with other $250 devices today. If you see just the DSi as the PSP's competition, the Go's updates seem pretty substantial. But compared to the advancements in PMPs and smartphones as of late, it's just very difficult to sit in awe of the Go's inelegant hardware and clunky software." (Gizmodo)
• "PSP Go review: Nice kit, shame about the price" (The Guardian)

The main points that I've seen (not having tried it myself) is that it's expensive; consumers can only buy games through Sony, no third party sellers, and the design looks like nothing compared to what you might have expected based on current technology, such as an iPhone or a Zune.

Sony seems to have an enormous regard for itself and keeps operating as though everyone else does as well. But those attitudes are largely at the root of why the company is doing so badly, and they explain why management is not going to extricate the company at any point in the near future. When you are so certain that you're correct, of course you don't change what you're doing. No matter what you're about to run into.

Image via stock.xchng user cbcs, site standard license.